Rated 4.5 / 5 stars2010-09-19 21:14:00

Great fun

The gameplay was fun, and you definitely achieved the feeling you were going for, which is impressive for such a subtle concept.

Almost everything about the Pause menu is glitchy (the backgrounds don't pause, neither do some sounds, and occasionally things don't work after you restart), so if you find the time and motivation I'd really recommend reworking it. I'd accidentally mouse offscreen a lot, but it wouldn't be nearly as problematic if the pause feature was more polished.

I want to spend most of my time talking about the positives, but it's hard to elaborate beyond just saying that things were done right. Good job. The ending cutscene was hilariously fitting.

Rated 5 / 5 stars2010-06-13 19:39:53

Rated 5 / 5 stars2010-06-09 20:55:45

All the good stuff goes for granted of course, but

I'm all for bosses requiring a specific strategy to defeat. That's what makes bosses more interesting than regular enemies, after all. But there should be some sort of CLUE, some indication that can lead you in the right direction. Players shouldn't be required to trial-and-error for dozens of deaths until they happen to stumble upon the exact right method for victory. It should be a test of your reflexes and logic, not of your patience.

Rated 5 / 5 stars2010-04-28 02:38:03

Excellent!

I can't believe this turned out as well as it did.

One thing I'd recommend, from a game-design standpoint: It'd be interesting if there was something other than curiosity that would compel you to play with all the characters. For instance, if killing a character meant you could no longer select him until you pick up a 1-up. It would add a fun (for me) element of strategy in which characters to choose. I might even want to 'level up' a good character and then save him for an especially hard level.

Great move with the saving mechanism! This is something all flash games should do -- I don't have to worry about cookies, and could even carry my save to another computer if I wanted to!

It's funny you mention that. I originally designed the game so that when a character died, you couldn't use them unless you revived them with a 1up mushroom. I decided to take it out for simplicity's sake, but it's something I'll consider for the future.

I'm glad you like the save. It was very easy to implement that feature. In fact, it was so easy that I feel nervous I overlooked something! But I'm glad it works.

Rated 4 / 5 stars2010-04-23 20:36:10

Great

I absolutely loved this game until I reached the midway boss battle. I spent the entire game learning how to <i>avoid</i> fighting, and then all of a sudden I was thrown into the hardest possible battle yet. It was like getting a game over for no reason.

This is a fairly large flaw, in my opinion. You shouldn't reward your players for avoiding something, only to force it on them later. The creeping was the part of the game I enjoyed, and since I can't stand the 'run around shooting' part of the game (which I thought was optional), I won't be able to experience the second half of the game.

Rated 3 / 5 stars2010-02-23 13:55:29

Debug it.

This is a great idea, and if it weren't so broken, it would probably be one of my favorite games on newgrounds. As it is, however, it's almost unplayable! No matter what you think, bugs aren't enjoyable little surprises -- they're a sign of lazy programming.

When you make a game, you need to playtest it extensively, find unintentional behavior, and fix it. Don't provide a list of fatal bugs along with the game and call it a finished product.

Rated 4 / 5 stars2010-01-25 22:56:25

Pretty decent game!

People should stop calling this a "rip-off" of another game, and rating it down because there is another game similar to it just made by a sligtly more experienced programmer. ALL games use mechanics and ideas that have been used before. Every FPS ever is a rip-off of Wolfenstein; does that mean that every one of them sucks?

We should look at this game for what it is: an amateur effort, but a successful one. It's pretty fun to play, and there are no game-breaking bugs. While the movement can feel a little sloppy at times, it's still better than 90% of what comes through the portal. I for one hope Torkvemada keeps programming.

Rated 5 / 5 stars2010-01-14 00:00:16

Excellent!

I've played the full version. Though it's hard, and on the short side, that's a GOOD thing when it comes to the frequent, frequent checkpoints.

The game would take three times as long if there were a third as many checkpoints (this is how most games would have it). But instead, this game makes you beat every challange, but only makes you beat it once. If there weren't all those checkpoints scattered about, you'd spend all your time redoing things you've already beaten!